Kean's side sit second bottom of the Premier League with only one win this season and the club's supporters have made persistent protests against his regime.

But in response to media speculation that Kean was about to extend his contract, the club released the following statement: "Blackburn Rovers can confirm a revision to manager Steve Kean's existing contract has been completed.

"An agreement made in the summer has now been formalised. Contrary to some reports there is no change to the length of the contract. The club respects that all contracts are private and confidential and no further comment will be made."

On Tuesday, Kean told ESPNsoccernet that he has personally decided to put new contract talks on hold while he battles for Premier League survival.

"Yes, there have been discussions about a new contract, but I have told the owners that this is an inappropriate time to conclude any new contract discussions,'' he said. ''Instead, the real issue is for me and everyone else to concentrate on the games.

"The fact that the owners have talked to me about a new contract means that they can see what we are building here, and we hope to make others see it too.

''We need to turn the last remaining negatives into positives, and the vast majority of the fans can see that our performances deserve to be six or seven points better off and halfway up the table, those fans have seen for themselves what has happened in certain games when we deserved more from our performances. That will come."